Christmas already?There's a reason for the department store. [Anchor Report]

Competition in the distribution industry is fierce at the end of the year.

The same goes for department stores.

Looking at the sales ranking by department store last year, Shinsegae Gangnam branch ranked first with the opening of 3 trillion in sales for the first time as a single store.

Lotte Jamsil, headquarters, and Shinsegae Centum City followed with sales of more than 2 trillion won.

However, the polarization of sales was noticeable by store.

The Hyundai Seoul saw its sales increase by more than 16%, while Lotte Centum City's store decreased by about 10%.

Of the 70 stores of the five major department stores, only 15 saw sales grow more than 1%.

In particular, 46 places, which far exceed half, saw their sales decline.

What was the performance of the three major department stores in the second quarter of this year?

Hyundai Department Store, which was considered the third-largest in the industry, saw its operating profit increase nearly 16% from a year ago with The Hyundai Seoul at the forefront.

This contrasts with a 9% decrease in Lotte Department Store and an 11% decrease in Shinsegae Department Store.

The third-quarter earnings outlook evaluated by securities firms is bleak for all three companies.

Financial information company FnGuide analyzed that the operating profits of the three department stores will decrease by 10 to 12% from last year.